Lister plow



Jan. 2, 1940.

ATTORNEY.

' ment of a eld'after listing.

Patented Jan. 2, 1940r narrar orties l 2,185,520 LISTER'PLOW Charles J.Ray, Denton, Nebr. .p Application November 23, 193s, serial'N. 241,985k

` i cial-rms; (o1. 974-204). Y

My invention relates lto listers, vits primary object4 being themodification of the ordinary lister plow for materially improving thetillage methods. i

Y One vof the objects of my invention is the provision of' ay modifiedlister plow which will pre`A pareA the lister ridges and furrows toprovide water 'storage reservoirs withoutthe use of dams in the furrows.

Another'object is the provision of an improved lister plow having meansfor severing the roots' of weeds inthe ridges.

. Another object is the provision of an improved lister `plow havingmeansfor increasing the stability of the plow when operated in unevensoils.k I

Another object is the provision of a new till.

age ymethod involving the storage-of Waterrand the destruction of weeds.

Having in view these objects and otherslwhich will be pointed kout inthe following description,

`I will now'refer to the drawing, in'whi'ch Figure lis a` plan view of alister plow share as modified witha provision of specialized wings.Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of ythesame plow share. i f

`Figure"3 isV a cross sectional View of a frag- Lister plowsk are`distinctly furrow forming plowstv forming relatively deep furrows withrelatively high ridges at the sides of the furrows, They distinguishsharply over the cultivator tools whose function vis to Astir thesurface of the soil i without the formation of ridges or furrows.

At Illis shown the ordinary lister plow share including the vadded wingsIl as` contemplated in my invention.v The share" l0 is provided withthev usual boltholes I2 for securing the 'share in place.- The structureand function of these wings have adeiinite relation to they structureand ,function ofthe lister plow.

Lister plows are designed tocut relatively deep furrows and to throw upthe soil at the sides to form high ridges. The next adjacent furrow isparallel to the previous furrow and half the soil is thrown off onto aprevious ridge. The plowing is thus continued until the surface of theentire eld is covered with parallel ridges and furrows. The ordinarymold board plow on the other hand throws the'` furrow slice into thepreviously formed furrowv in order to preserve a substantially levelfield. Most plows are designed v to cause the breaking up of the furrowslice in turning over so asv to result in a eld having few clods and fewair spaces. This may be supplemented inthe ordinary plowing witha harrow`seen that the forward travel of the share 'l0 will sever the surfacesoil fromthe subsoil,` the cutting. edge of the plow. being triangular`and the f width of the furrow slices being lsubstantially equal to thebase ofthe triangular cutting edge.

Duringthe forward movement of the share unvderthe furrow'slice the shareacts 'as ajwedge to pry `thevfurrow sliceupwardlyand away from thesubsoil` The weight of 'the furrow Islice is ca-rriedby the sharelbutthe yfurrow slice is irnmediately divided longitudinally by theridge of theplow share with the result that substantially equal portionsof the furrow slice are thrown toward the opposite sides of the share tobuild up the ridges. The movement of thefurroW slice 'is spiral but most`soils `are'sufficiently',friable so that the ridges are formed of`loose soil.

The wings ll project from4 the opposite sides of ythe share atthebottorn thereof and the. curvature continues that of theshare. Theymay be either welded onto -thes'hara or the-'share may be cut andformedv integral `with-the wings.v

`The wings must project transversely of 'the line 0f draft and the widthand height of the wings movement or" the furrow slicey begins. Thethrust l of the wings is forwardk and upward but the :horizontalcomponent of this force is resisted `by the unworked soil through whichthey travel, The vertical'component of the force is slight 4so that itmerely elevates slightly the soil underneath which the wings ltraveLthisbeing in the bottom `of theridge. r

Lister plows compact the soil over which they travel so that the bottomof. the furrow is harder than the subsoil.' Thehard `smooth layerretardswater absorption. On the other hand, the ridge `of loose soilabsorbswat-er "readily except when the rain fall is heavier than therat'e of absorption. The waterwhich is not absorbed in the soil iswholly wasted instead of being conservedv for use during laterdryfspells. Not only is the water wasted, but valuable surface soil iscarl ried down the furrows instreams of water.

The gashes formed by the wings extend an ap- In `the usual practice,corn and similar crop seeds are deposited in the bottom of the furrowsand lightly covered with soil. During the growing season the eldiscultivated, and the successive cultivations gradually reduce theridges by depositing some of the 'soil into the furrows. The cultivationdisturbs the weeds but the weeds which are too close to the crop linecannot readily be removed without disturbing the crop. Thisisn-particularly true of such deep-rooted perennials as bindweed. Thecutting of the gashes not only severs the bindweed roots but itdisplaces the upper portion of the root. The plane of severance is thecritical plane since it functionsl before theplanting of the seed toseriously disturb the weeds in the crop line and to a considerabledistance. on both sides thereof, l the weeds at the greater distancefrom the cropline being kept under control by cultivation.

Lister plows are frequently used for fall plowing to prepare the seedbed for a corn crop the following year. The ridges and furrows aresubjected to repeated freezing and thawing and they accumulateconsiderable rain water and snow. The roots of the perennial weeds aresevered by the wings at the very beginning so that the weeds are killedduring the winter. In the spring the soil is again worked, 1theoperation being known as ridge busting. The ridges are split and theformer furrowsare filled and new furrows are formed where theA previousridges were before. Weeds; are again disturbed and cut by the wings at atime when the weeds are in a seriously weakened condition. All of themoisture of the winter `has been conserved but the spring listing opensthe other hand, it has been found that the wings have a verymarked'stabilizing effect to maintain the lister kat the desired depthin` the lsoil.

The importance of this is particularly evident when working `afieldwhich has hard andsoft' l spots in the soil. f V y Having vthusdescribed my invention in such full, clear, and exactterms that itsconstruction and operation will be readily understood by others skilledin the art to which it pertains, what I claim as new and desire' tosecure by Letters Pat# j.

ent of the United States is:

1. A lister plow for forming lister-ridges and l lister furrows with aplow solejat the bottom of the furrows, andy vupwardly and-rearwardlyin.-`

clined wingsat the sides ofsaid lister plow and having a curvature whichis continuous with the curvature of Asaid lister plow', said wingsvbeing adapted to cut horizontal gashes" underneaththe ridges and on alevel with the bottom of, the furrows.. f

2. A lister -plow for cutting furrows and turning the soil to formridges at both sides of the furrow, wings projecting from `said listerplow at both sides thereof,v and integral therewith,v said wings havingcutting edges in the planeof the cutting edges of said lister plow andcontinuous with the curvature thereof, said wings having; av

tensions having cutting edges in thef'plane of' the cutting edges ofsaid lister plow and continuous therewith," the upper convex surfacesofsaid wing extensions being continuous with the upper surfacesv of saidlister plow, said wing extensions being upwardly and rearwardly inclinedand terminating below the plane which determines the turning pointvv ofthe furrow slice on said lister plow wherebyfsaid wing extensions willauthorizontal gashes at the bottom 'of VtheV adjacent ridges withoutlateral movement of the soil. I

4. A lister'plow having divergent and slightly concave cutting edgesinthe plane which deter-.

mines the position of the'plow sole, said plow having an-,upwardinclination from, front to rear o-f sucient height to turn and to' movethe soil laterally to form ridges at opposite sidesof a furrow, wingsextending laterally from both sides of said plow and integral therewith,said wingsy having cutting edges which yare `continuous-with saidconcave cutting edges of said plow and having upper curvedsurfaces whichare continuous l `with the upper curved surfaces `of said plow wherebythe furrow slice will not be subjectedv to any abrupt turn, the height`of said wingsbeing just sufficient for slightly elevating the soilwithout lateral displacement to out horizontal gashes in the bottomportions of the ridges. 60

CHARLES J. RAY.

